I’ve mentioned before that I personally don’t consume grain products everyday (see sweet breakfast omelette – what to eat when you don’t eat toast), which is mostly due to the fact that most stores don’t carry products I deem worthy of consuming. For instance if you look at the label of  most commercial ‘sourdough’ breads, you may notice that there are around 30+ ingredients (most of these ingredients are not real food and are from refined products; sourdough should just contain a few ingredients  (yeast, water, flour and salt, usually)). These commercial grain products I usually find disapointing so I don’t buy them (they also aren’t that nutritious as well!).

Apart from slow-cooked oats, I like to have bread and other grain products as more of a treat, rather than an everyday staple (most are refined anyway). But if you make them yourself they can be so more nutritious & really delicious! As a treat,  I made a batch of delicious Hot Cross Buns (HCBs) for Good Friday. These HCBs were made using wholemeal spelt flour (rather than wheat), buttermilk for extra flavour and to help them rise and I added dates instead of sultanas or currants!  So if you would like a healthier while still delicious version of HCBs I hope you give these a go :).

Now onto the recipe…

Recipe: Buttermilk, Spelt and Date Hot Cross Buns

Allergen info/recipe info: This recipe does contain gluten (so this recipe is not suitable for those who have issues with gluten/celiacs), dairy and eggs. It is lacto-ovo vegetarian-friendly.

This recipe is a little bit denser than regular HCBs due to the wholemeal spelt flour.

Makes: 6 HCBs.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 C. buttermilk (or the same volume of whole milk mixed with 1 tablespoon of active culture yoghurt or kefir)
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1 tsp. yeast
• 1.5 C. wholemeal spelt flour (or sprouted spelt flour), sifted
• 2 tsp. mixed spice
• 1/2 C. coconut or rapadura sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
• 1 orange, zested
• 1/4. C. dates, pitted and chopped
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp. of vanilla seeds
• 2 tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
• milk, to glaze the HCBs

For the crosses:

• ~2 Tbsp. extra spelt flour
• 1 tsp. coconut sugar
• enough water to form a paste

How to:

1. Bloom the yeast: Heat the buttermilk in a saucepan on low heat till just warm. Turn off the heat and pour the warm buttermilk in a jug. Mix in the honey and sprinkle the yeast on the top of the buttermilk. Leave to bloom (it gets bubbly & the yeast gets activated) for around 10 minutes.
2. Sift dry ingredients: In a large bowl sift the spelt flour, coconut sugar and mixed spice. Stir in the fennel seeds, orange zest and chopped dates.
3. Mix wet ingredients: Beat the egg into the buttermilk and add the vanilla extract & melted and cooled butter. Pour the buttermilk-egg mixture into the flour.
4. Mix, Knead & Rise: Using clean hands (or a butter knife) begin to mix the mixture together. Knead it for a few minutes (I just kneaded it in the bowl) or until it becomes elastic (you may knead to add a bit of extra flour to the bowl or board if the dough is too sticky). Leave the kneaded ball of dough in the bowl and cover it with a tea towel. Leave this in a sunny warm position in your kitchen for around 2 hours (or overnight) or until it doubles in size.
5. Divide: When it has doubled in size, divide the ball of dough into six equal portions. Knead each individual portion once again until elastic.
6. Rise again & Preheat Oven: Place these pieces into your chosen greased baking tray (I used one around cm wide and cm high). Place each piece about 1-2cm apart. Place this tray covered with the tea towel again and leave to rise for another hour. In the last 10 minutes of rising preheat your oven to 160 degrees C.
7. Score & Bake:  Now get the tray with the dough balls in it and using a knife cut two lines across the top of each one to form a cross. Bake the HCBs in the oven for 15-25 minutes at 160 degrees C (fan-forced) or until they are light brown and cooked through. To test if they are cooked you can poke a skewer in one of them and if they are sticky then it isn’t quite ready yet.
8. Make cross mixture (optional): (in some of the HCBs I didn’t add the paste cross- see the 2nd picture) Make mixture for the ‘crosses’ by mixing together ~ 2 Tbsp. spelt flour, 1 tsp. coconut sugar and enough water to form a thick paste.  In the last 6 or so minutes left of cooking the HCBs pipe the cross mixture into the scored crosses and spoon/brush a little bit of milk over the HCBs. Bake until they are cooked through.
9. Serve when hot with a bit of butter.
10. Enjoy!

Update 6/4/12: Variation – Homemade Buttermilk, Spelt and Date Hot Cross Buns (With Chocolate!)

How I modified the above recipe:

• For the first rise I left it to rise & ferment overnight (rather than the 2 hours below) at step 4.
• I’ve made a varation on the above recipe my adding 1/4 C. of G & B organic milk chocolate (chopped into small pieces) to step 5 (I worked the chocolate chips into each of the 6 pieces of dough).

Whether or not you celebrate Easter/Passover I hope you enjoy the long weekend!

Panisse are a type of delicious french chick pea chip (or fry for our US friends). Normally these are made with chickpea flour (besan/garbanzo flour) but me being the lover of whole, real food and the nutrition-maximizing gal I am, I made them using the whole chickpea and sprouted them myself. (Here is a little guide on sprouting legumes, beans, nuts and seeds). So I hope you enjoy this slightly healthier take on Panisse and please let me know what you think!

Recipe: Sprouted (or Soaked) Chickpea Panisse

Ingredients:

• 1 c. dried chickpeas
• water (to soak or sprout the chickpeas)
• water extra
• a small amount of olive oil
• coconut oil/ghee/butter to cook the panisse
• salt, freshy cracked pepper and freshly ground coriander seed, to serve

How to:

1. Soak the dried chickpeas in water for a day or two. When they’re soft, you can drain the water away and use them (see step 2) or you can continue and sprout them by rinsing the chickpeas in water a few times a day for a few days until they sprout.
2. Now if you’re ready to cook: drain any remaining water away from the chickpeas and give them another rinse and drain the water away again. Add these chickpeas to a blender or food processor and add enough water form a watery mixture. Blend until smooth. Don’t worry if you add too much water- it will cook away (see next step).
3. Now add this mixture to a saucepan and on low heat and whisk it until it forms a thick porridge-like mixture.
4. Get a large-enough plate and spread a bit of olive oil on it. Now spread the chickpea mixture onto the plate and cover it with another similarly-sized plate or cling wrap and place this in the fridge to set until firm. Then cut this mixture into chip/fries sized pieces.
5. When it is firm, it’s time to cook! Heat a small amount of your fat of choice in a cast-iron pan and cook the chips on both sides until golden.
6. When they are all cooked, sprinkle them with a bit of salt, freshly cracked pepper and freshly ground coriander seed.
7. Enjoy!

I’ve finally finished exams for the year, so time for a treat!

Recipe: Chocolate & Walnut Essene Brownies (Sprouted Grain Brownies)

Allergen info/Recipe info:

• This recipe contains, eggs, dairy and gluten, so is not suitable for those sensitive to any of those.
• Carob is much less stimulating than cacao/cocoa (Cacao contains caffeine, which is a nervous system stimulant and has the potential to be too stimulating. It also contains theobromine which also acts on the nervous system) and is more suitable for children. Carob is free of caffeine.
• This recipe is not suitable for those on a weight-loss diet, calorie-controlled diet or those who are diabetic.
• This is definitely once-in-a-blue moon type treats, so I wouldn’t be having this every day. But there is nothing wrong with making a healthy treat every once in a while!

Serves: Makes around 6-8 pieces depending on size of brownie.

Ingredients:

• 90g dried sprouted grains (I used organic & biodynamic wheat grains) (how to sprout grains)
• 80g cacao/cocoa or carob, sifted
• a pinch of salt
• 150g coconut sugar
• 4 eggs (best from free range chooks- i.e. not caged chickens)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 100g butter (best organic, from grass-fed cows) (or use ghee, or coconut oil)
• 100g organic dark or milk chocolate (I like Cocolo chocolate as it uses rapadura sugar!)
• ~80 or so of walnuts (or another nut, seed or dried fruit that you like)

How to:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees C. Prepare your baking pan (I just used a shallow-ish rectangle pan), by greasing a large piece of baking paper (larger than your baking pan) and then fit it into your tin.
2. Grind the sprouted dried grains until they resemble a very fine flour. I used a coffee grinder to get a really fine texture. Put this in a bowl.
3. Stir in the cocoa or carob powder and the salt.  Add to the bowl.
4. Whisk the eggs together until they are thick and well beaten.
5. Grind the coconut sugar until it is very fine (it can often be a bit grainy). Whisk the sugar into the the eggs. Add the vanilla.
6. Melt the butter and chocolate together over a double boiler (a larger bowl over a small pot of boiling water) until melted. Leave to cool for a few minutes.
7. Alternate quickly whisking the melted chocolate and the eggs into the dry ingredients until the ingredients are all in the bowl. Mix it until it is a smooth consistency.
8. Stir the walnuts or other any extra add-ins you would like in the brownies. Pour the mixture into the lined tin.
9. Bake these brownies (in the middle rack in the oven) at 150 C for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer or toothpick comes out clean.
10. Enjoy!

Last week I talked about how to get more whole foods into your diet. This week I present to you a lovely way to get some sprouted grains into your diet in a sweet and delicious way.

I have been sprouting my grains quite often now and then drying and grinding them into flour to create a more nutritious and digestible flour. I’ve made other sprouted foods before- see Homemade Essene Bread and How To Sprout Sunflower Seeds. This is one of my new recipes that contain homemade sprouted wheat flour. I’m planning to post more information on sprouting and sprouted grain/seed etc recipes in the future (because they’re so easy to make!). I shared this recipe at Real Food Wednesday hosted this week by kellythekitchenkop.com and it was also shared with the Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet’s Blog.

Apple & Cinnamon Oat Cookies (with Sprouted Wheat)

Ingredients:

• 2 T. organic butter or coconut oil
• 2 T. organic maple syrup
• 1 egg
• 1 apple, puréed
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1 C. whole wheat sprouts, minced (doesn’t have to be finely ground)
• 1/2 tsp.  bicarbonate soda
• 1/2 C. rolled oats
• 1/4 tsp. ground sea salt

Directions:

1. Grind dry sprouts until ground.
2. Cream butter/coconut oil and maple syrup.
3. Beat in the egg till completely mixed in.
4. Mix in the apple and then the flour, bicarbonate soda and pinch of salt.
5. Stir in the oats.
6. Evenly dollop the mixture onto grease proof paper.
7. Cook in the oven at 150 C. for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned.
8. Enjoy!